Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Cancel Jet-Etihad deal says Swamy.

Janata Party President Dr Subramanian swamy has questioned bi-lateral deal on airline seats and the agreement between Jet Airways and Etihad airline.

Dr Swamy has written two letters to PM on the issue and has brought out the fear that it is likely to be a security risk to India. On Tuesday Dr Swamy was interviewed by CNBC-TV18 on this issue, which was carried out on the website moneycontrol.com. The same is being reproduced here .

Cancel Jet deal; will
move court to stop Air Asia: Swamy

Speaking to CNBC-TV18,
Janata Party president Subramanian Swamy said he is vehemently opposed the idea
of Air Asia operating out of India, saying he will move court to stop it from
taking off.

Even
though the PMO has asserted that government is not divided over the air
services agreement between India and Abu Dhabi, cracks are apparent. That the
trouble for the Rs 2058-crore deal was far from over became clear when the PMO
advised the ministry of civil aviation to consider a calibrated approach
towards aviation deals.

Q:Before
I actually get to the objections that you have raised as far as the Jet-Etihad
deal is concerned, let me ask you about why you are opposing the AirAsia deal?
You have said this morning that you want the AirAsia deal scrapped. What is
your objection to the AirAsia deal?

A:The policy was very clear that
there are two aspects of it. One is that foreign investment is only permitted
for an existing airline. There is no existing airline here in India. Tata is
not an existing airline, therefore I have a good opinion about AirAsia.

Q:If you
have a good opinion about them, if the Indian consumer stands to benefit, then
why would you oppose this particular transaction. Why are you opposing this
particular deal and even as far as the foreign direct investment (FDI)
regulation is concerned, that matter was clarified by the Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP)?

A:They have not clarified it.
The civil aviation ministry has stated in the Foreign Investment Promotion
Board (FIPB) that this is against the regulations that it has to be an existing
airline. Ajit Singh said to one of the leading newspaper that under no
circumstances it can be given to any airline which is not existing.

Q:If we
are living by regulations, the FIPB has taken a decision to allow AirAsia to
operate in this country. The FIPB, which has had consultations with each and
every ministry that you just talked about, has said that AirAsia is okay with
flying in this country?

A:The FIPB is one of the most
scandalous bodies of India under Chidambaram’s leadership. It did so in the
Aircel-Maxis also and it has done it in this and when I challenge it in court,
I will bring it out. How did they disregard this fundamental regulation?

Q:Is
your objection against the FIPB or is your objection against Chidambaram?

A:Both combined. There is no
difference between the two.

Q:So are
you saying that even as far as the AirAsia matter is concerned that you are
going to move court?

A:Of course, I may move earlier
than this one because I think Jet and Etihad is going to take a long time to
finalise.

Q:So you
are saying that you will actually move on AirAsia before you will move the
Supreme Court against Jet-Etihad?

A:Yes, because Jet-Etihad is
going to take a long time to consider. It’s not going to be cleared soon.

Q:If you
are now saying that Jet-Etihad will take a long time to clear. Through the day
and in your letter to the Prime Minister, you have been talking about the sense
of urgency, the haste that the government has shown in trying to clear this
deal. You yourself are now saying that the Jet-Etihad deal is far from being
cleared?

A:Thanks to my letter it is
going to be delayed. Otherwise it would have been cleared by now.

Q:So,
you are taking credit for the fact that the government hasn’t acted on giving it
clearance?

A:I am not taking credit. I
wrote a letter and the action followed immediately after my letter. Actions
speak louder than anything, I might say.

Q:Lets
look at the facts and lets leave conjecture aside. The Indian government has
not signed the bi-lateral agreement with the Abu Dhabi government so far. As
far as the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) clearance is concerned,
the Jet-Etihad deal has not been cleared by the FIPB the matter was deferred
again. As far as Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi's) clearance is
concerned, the matter has not been cleared by Sebi. As far as the competition
commission of India (CCI) is concerned, the matter has not been cleared by the
CCI as yet. So, perhaps are you being a bit premature in pronouncing the fact
that this deal ought to be scrapped?

A:Had I not written the letter
on May 28, the FIPB would have cleared it on June 11. That was the
understanding that I have on the basis of what people told me.

May of
them are members of the FIPB meeting. It’s because of my letter that this
happened. So, its not premature, it was very well timed. It was at the right
time.

When I
saw that they were even disregarding the parliamentary committee, standing
committee report I thought the time had come for me to write a letter. I wrote
a letter to the Prime Minister to say that if the deal gets cleared, he would
be culpable under Section 13 of the prevention of corruption Act.

Q:What
is your biggest objection? Is your objection the bilateral agreement or is it
the ownership issue?

A:If my biggest objection has to
be summarised, it is that the Indian airlines industry is sought to be wrecked
by four ministers who have some other motives other than national interest.

Q:You
are saying that you will move the Supreme Court against AirAsia’s deal, but you
will not move the Supreme Court against Jet-Etihad atleast not as of now?

A:Yes, till they take a decision
I can't move. I will go to the Supreme Court as far as AirAsia is concerned.

Q:They
have crossed the FIPB, but they are yet to get a licence to fly?

A:FIPB is an illegal decision.
So, I have a cause of action. There is no decision where I can take cause of
actions in the court. You must know the requirements of the court before I can
go to court.